1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to irons and, more particularly, to a soleplate of an iron.
2. Prior Art
German Patent DE 4316281 discloses an ironing base of an electric iron with a cast metal base and a base plate. The base plate has two layers of different material. German Patent G 9401094.3 and PCT publication WO 94/17236 disclose a soleplate cover made from colaminate materials. PCT publication WO 95/27819 discloses a soleplate with a base glued to the body of the iron. The base has an aluminum oxide coating.
In the past, due to processing limitations in manufacturing plants, available soleplate appearances were usually restricted to satin (simply sanding the bottom of the soleplate), silverstone/non-stick (applied in the plant), and mirror/polished (multiple sanding and buffing operations of the aluminum soleplate itself). All of these secondary operations require the bottom of the casted soleplate to be free of imperfections. This is currently a high scrap issue in a manufacturing plant because any imperfections would be highlighted by the various finishes. If the imperfections could not be removed prior to finishing or during the finishing process, the casting would be either scrapped entirely or remelted to reclaim the aluminum and calrod. Either option adds cost to the product. All of these secondary operations add cost to the product as well as tie up valuable floor space which can be leveraged for manufacturing additional product. Also, a higher tooling cost results because of the need to keep the casting tool finish at a high level in order to maximize the appearance of the casting.
It is an object of the present invention to simplify the design and eliminate costly secondary operations of the soleplate by mechanically roll forming the outer edge of an aluminum, steel, and/or stainless steel wrap onto the soleplate. The wrap will then be the visible portion of the soleplate and can be coated with a variety of coatings or left as is to suit the desired needs of the marketplace.